i was coughing alot aND THE NASTY stuff coming up for about a month, went to the dr. he listened to my lungs and ran blood test. my doctor has copd himself. ive read so much here and ive never as of yet had any of these test. do i actually have copd? should i get a second opinion, i take 3 inhalers, if you have any ideas please let me know. thank you so much.

I disagree. The cut off point for copd is over 80% so 75% means very mild copd. If you suffer from copd you should have an annual review with the respiratory nurse at your surgery and at least a peak and flow reading (or a spirometry test which is more accurate) which should indicate your lung function. You should also have a chest x-ray done and your blood gasses every time. The nurse should also ensure you know how to take your

meds properly and discuss whether you need to up or lower the dose or even change meds x

thanks, she has something on her lungs the dr doesnt know much yet until her ct scan. why would they give her the breathing test i wonder? thank you so very much, if you know anything else please let me know. thanks a million

Is that the UK one Jean? When I was diagnosed around 5 years ago if you were over 70% it was considered not to be copd. Then they changed it to over 80%. I understood that moderate is 50 - 70 and mild is 70-80? I have my copd review a week Monday so will check with the nurse. x

That would be brilliant Cough, id love to know what they say. Before i posted that i went on various websites who all quoted the GOLD staging criteria, including patient.co.uk which is an English site. GOLD is considered international but who knows? I kept looking and looking as i didn't want to post anything incorrect. Maybe different countries do use different criteria.

But I had seen this - mild being above 80% - previously which was why i took another look today. Checked the BLF site but couldn't find anything. But it certainly wasn't like that when i was dix'd which was 2000.

So do let us know. Hope your review goes well but we'll probably be in touch before then

I believe FEV1 above 80% is considered mild and below is moderate down to 50%, however 75% is just off of mild. To be considered COPD your FEV1/FVC ratio should also be below 70% so perhaps that is the 70% you are referring to.

cough said that, why would the dr say 75% unless maybe he really doesnt know himself you think? sisters mad at me because i never had one. oxygen they do by blood test says mind is 90% that was a year ago. stopped smoking after 40 years with chantix last month feel so much better. thank you so very much

the cut off for COPD is 80% and anything showing below that 'could' be copd - your sister, you say, had a test that showed 75% and if this is her fv1/fvc then she may have mild copd. Its not that easy to understand all that goes into the results I know

this is what she told me her heart dr. told her. she said she had to breath thru something and thats what he told her. does this make since to you? she has an appointment with a lung specialist and a ct scan next week.

I DONT KNOW IF ANY ONE ELSE IS ON FACE BOOK THEY HAVE SOME AMAZING HELP THERE, ID BE TOTALY LOST & CUT OF IF IT WASNT FOR THEM , ALSO GREAT ADVICE ABOUT BENNIFITS COPD'ERS SHOULD BE GETTING AS WELL AS HOME AIDS eg STAIR LIFT HOME OXEGEN MACHINE

thank you so very much, can you believe my two sisters and myself have copd and my other sister has cancer, so the three of us is trying our best to understand copd while trying to get a grip on the sister with cancer. im so happy to have found this site!!

Are we talking FEV1? You do not have to always have a low FEV1 for a copd diagnosis as I found out. My FEV1 (Complex Lung Function Test) was 95% predicted. However CT scan and X ray showed emphysema. The big signs on the LFT was high % predicted FVC and high Lung Volumes. DLCO (gas transfer) 47% and FEV1/FVC 56 % I was told the "mechanics"of my airways were at this point still functioning quite well thus the good fev1 which going on the "scale" that gets referred to quite a lot would mean I don't have a lung problem, how I wish that were the case! But I do have moderate emphysema so just an example that FEV1 isn't always the telling factor. Suz x

HI IM DENNIS AND I JUST HAD A PFT SPIROMTRY 2 WEEKS AGO. IVE BEEN SMOKING FOR 42 YEARS AND IM 55 YEARS OLD .. TESTED NEGATIVE FOR ALPHA AND MY FVC WAS 87% MY FEV1 WAS 81% AND THE FVC/FEV1 RATIO WAS 92% A CT SCAN DID SHOW SOME SMALL EMPHYSEMA MARKING IN MY UPPER LUNGS... BUT NOT MANY... DOES THIS MEAN I AM MODERATE?